Only three states have added retail jobs since the recession's onset in 2007 -- and their gains could hardly be called impressive. North Dakota leads the nation with a four-year increase of 2,000 retail jobs, followed by South Dakota with 800 and Alaska with 600.

And that's it. The other 47 states and the District of Columbia had fewer retail jobs last month than they did in September 2007, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (The recession officially began in December 2007.)

The biggest decline in raw numbers occurred in the nation's most populous state. California saw 163,600 retail jobs slip away during the past four years, the equivalent of 3,400 per month since 2007. Florida is the runner-up on this unhappy list, with 67,500 of its retail positions vanishing.